[Pathfinder] Animal Empathy Doubt

By richienvh, in General Discussion

Posted at

Hi,

Yesterday, as I was writing a comment on one of the threads about Pathfinder characters, I came across a small doubt and would like to ask you if you could give me some advice.

The Pathfinder Animal Empathy Talent states that "When making checks to handle, tame or control animals, the character may add a number of Force Dice no greater than his Force rating to the check, spending Force Points to add successes or advantages to the result.

My questions are:

1) Which skill would you use in this situation? I thought Survival, but am not sure if it could be Charm or Coerce. Maybe a custom Animal Handling Skill...

2) How would you set the difficulty? Would you use static or opposed checks?

Posted at

As for the skill used, that'd probably vary on a case-by-case basis, likely depending on how the character is choosing to interact with the creature. Being nice and friendly is Charm, trying to scare it off is Coerce, trying to trick it is Deception, trying to placate it would be Negotiation, and so on. I believe Survival has been identified as being the skill used for riding beasts, but not sure if it's been tagged as the skill used for all interactions with non-sentient creatures.

And since this amounts to a social interaction check, I'd treat it as opposed based upon whatever skil the character is using, though perhaps with setback dice imposed based upon circumstances. Trying to make nice with a ravenously hungry predator is going to be a lot harder to pull off than trying to scare off a meek herbivore that's only a quarter of your size.

Posted at

Personally, I would stick with Survival it keeps things simple, and that skill doesn't get much use in my games as it stands.

Posted at

Personally, I would stick with Survival it keeps things simple, and that skill doesn't get much use in my games as it stands.

Yeah, it probably would be Survival. Hopefully we'll get some more clarification on this sort of thing once Stay on Target and its rules regarding beast riding comes out.

Posted at

"Survival (Cunning)

It’s not uncommon for characters to become isolated
far from civilized worlds. Sometimes this is by choice;
at other times, they could be stranded on a world,
hoping for some sort of rescue. Learning to recognize
the dangers of the natural environment, as well as determining
how to exploit its resources, is dependent
upon the Survival skill.
Characters who spent their formative years on wilderness
planets often have this skill as part of their
background. Others may learn it as part of military
training. Some may be completely dependent upon
it, as their jobs focus on traveling to untamed worlds
so that they may exploit their natural resources.
• Identifying safe food, potable water, or shelter in
a natural environment requires the character to
make a Survival check.
• Characters who are skilled at Survival understand
weather patterns, recognize the signs of imminent
dangerous conditions, and know how to prepare.
• Tracking a subject through the wilderness—
whether the subject is game or an enemy combatant—
is dependent upon Survival.
• Survival governs a character’s ability to handle
domesticated animals, so that they may be used
as beasts of burden or as transport."

Straight out of the Skill description in the beta.